Yeosu City Council Promotes Research Activities Aiming for Sustainable Island Development

Representative Goyongjin and 7 Others Explore Various Ways to Utilize Island Resources

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Amid growing interest in islands recently, Yeosu city council members announced the day before that a research group utilizing island resources with the goal of sustainable development of island areas held a meeting at the city council on the 3rd.

According to Yeosu City Council (Chairman Jeon Chang-gon), seven council members including Go Yong-jin, Seo Wan-seok, Go Hee-gwon, Park Seong-mi, Moon Gap-tae, Jeong Gyeong-cheol, and Lee Mi-gyeong have formed and are active in a policy research group for utilizing island resources.

The research group analyzed that although islands have differentiated characteristics and their importance is very high, they have not been properly utilized due to geographical conditions and have been deprioritized in policy agendas.

Accordingly, the research aims to discover the unique resources possessed by islands, derive policies to utilize them, and improve the effectiveness of policies by organizing related systems.

Council member Seo Wan-seok proposed a manual involving data collection, expert meetings, database construction, and field verification, and suggested conducting a joint project with specialized institutions.

Council member Lee Mi-gyeong suggested exploring promotional methods utilizing distinctive elements of islands, and council member Park Seong-mi proposed using closed schools in island areas as local resource museums.

Council member Moon Gap-tae recommended that policies regarding people should also be developed in parallel to preserve and inherit island resources, and council member Jeong Gyeong-cheol emphasized the need for clear direction setting given the broad scope of the research.

The research group plans to produce results by June based on various research activities.

Go Yong-jin, the representative council member of the research group, stated, “People often think of tourism when it comes to island resources, but there are many aspects such as marine industry, history, culture, education, and welfare. We are researching what policy tasks are needed to discover, catalog, and utilize these resources.”